The Little Convict
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Yoram Gross
Rolf Harris
Sandra Gross
Yoram Gross
Yoram Gross
Athol Henry
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After failing to sell any of his paintings at a funfair, an artist (Rolf Harris) begins to tell his granddaughter about the origins of his paintings. We are then tranpsorted on board a British convict ship headed for New South Wales where we meet six convicts; Toby Nelson (a young boy), Polly Nelson (Toby's older sister), "Dipper" Davey (an old pick-pocket), Big George (a Blacksmith), Jack Doolan (a highwayman), and "Silly Billy" (a village idiot). The five men are selected to do hard labour for the military - under the supervision of Sergeant "Bully" Langden and Corporal "Weasel" Wesley - while Polly (secretly in love with Big George) is sent to work as a servant girl at the governor's home. Toby in the meantime saves a baby koala after Bully and Weasel kill it's mother while hunting, and keeps it as a pet, naming it Yo-Yo. But when Bully's continuing abuse of the convicts ends in old Dipper's death, Jack Doolan, fearing a similar fate, escapes and Big George is thrown in jail for helping him to escape. Left with only Yo-Yo to keep him company, Toby sets out to find Jack Doolan in order to free Big George. Along the way he meets an Aboriginee boy name Whooranga, who has a strange power over animals. Together with Jack Doolan, our three heroes plan a daring rescue attempt for Big George, only to be faced with making the ultimate sacrifice upon carrying it out...
Director
Yoram Gross
Cast
Rolf Harris
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
The balloons the man is handing out in the fair at the beginning have the "Dot & the Kangaroo" logo on them - Yoram Gross' previous animated film.
Two of the convicts are characters from two popular folk songs (both of which feature in the film). The character "Jack Doolan" is also the title character from an Australian song called "The Wild Colonial Boy" about the exploits of a wild Irish settler, and the character "Dipper Davey" is the fictional son of "Seth Davey", star of the Irish song "The Ballad of Seth Davey (Whiskey on a Sunday"), about an old man in Liverpool who used to entertain children by dancing three wooden dolls on a plank of wood.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1979
Released in United States December 30, 1979
Released in United States 1979
Released in United States December 30, 1979 (Premiere December 30, 1979.)
